BLOOD DONE SIGN MY NAME

In 1970, when Tim Tyson was a 10-year-old in Oxford, North Carolina, an African-American Vietnam veteran was beaten and murdered by white men in broad daylight in full view of witnesses. The riots that followed, along with the trial and subsequent acquittal of the killers, triggered Tyson's lifelong commitment to unraveling the twisted fabric of race relations in this country. Robertson Dean's reading and Tyson's clear-eyed, scrupulously researched work offer more than a popular history of the Civil Rights movement. Tyson, not an apologist for moderate whites, acknowledges that even those who preached change, among them his Methodist minister father, ultimately did little good. "Gradualism rested on empty promises. Later always meant never." Robertson Dean's narration provides wit and warmth, making this nonfiction account as riveting as any novel. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 04]